Hiking the Tour de Monte Rosa
The Tour de Monte Rosa, a multi-day hike circling the massif of Monte Rosa (15,203′), had long been on my to-do list of hiking. In July 2024 our group of friends arrived in the beautiful and famous ski-town of Zermatt, nestled beneath the famous peak of the Matterhorn.
We arrived a few days early to acclimatize and explore the mountains that surround and hang over Zermatt. A funicular railway brought us up to the Gornergrat and we hiked along the Hohtalligrat ridge and alongside the tremendous Gornergletscher glacier descending from the summit of Monte Rosa. The massive peaks of Monte Rosa, Lyskamm, and the Matterhorn were always in view.
After a wonderful Welcome Dinner, the next day we ascended by cable car high to the peak of Klein Matterhorn and over into Italy.
With clear skies overhead, the views across the Swiss and Italian Alps were impressive. There the hiking began with a long hike down through the Vallone dell Cima Blanche. With a lot of lingering snow cover, the hiking at first took us across expansive snowfields. A steep descent took us past the still frozen Lago Grande and then wandering down through alpine meadows covered in wildflowers to welcome drinks at our hotel in the charming village of Champoluc.
We were up early the next morning for a short cable car ride up to the small hamlet of Cuneaz. From there the trail ascended at first through open, flower strewn meadows and then steeply up to the Col Pinter.
From the Col, the path descended steeply down to the meadows and then on down in a knee jarring descent to welcome cappuccinos at the Rifugio Alpenzu.
After a short rest we continued to our hotel in the alpine village of Gressoney-La-Trinité.
After a short day exploring the alpine meadows above Gressoney, we ascended across snowfields to the Passo Zube; but not without the welcome regular morning coffee that Dan carried in his pack. A quick descent down quite steep snow took to the Passo Foric.
From the pass, the path plunged steeply down into the beautiful Valle d’Otro. This was a highlight of the entire trip. Impressive waterfalls, thick carpets of wildflowers and tiny rustic hamlets took our attention away from the knee jarring descent down to the picturesque village of Alagna.
Unfortunately, bad weather intervened for the next two days so that we could not complete the planned hikes. We did manage some shorter hikes including a hike across snowfields to lunch at the Brittania Hutte above Saas Fee. We then enjoyed a wonderful long day hiking the Gsponer Hohenweg high above the valley to Saas Grund with the peaks of Mischabel Group across the valley.
The next morning after a bus ride from Saas Fee to the small village of Taschalp, we started our last hike along the Europaweg back to Zermatt. This follows an alpine bench high above the Mitterdal with wonderful views across to the Weisshorn and the Matterhorn. Our last descent took us down into Zermatt and our Farewell Dinner at a local restaurant.
Despite the bad weather at times, we all enjoyed wonderful hiking among the magnificent peaks. Our two guides Dan Windham and Mike Browder ensured we all had a wonderful and memorable experience.
— Text and photos by 3-time WT Adventurer David Winter, Tour de Monte Rosa.
